Every Monday I throw out a challenge to readers. Something to push you into an uncomfortable spot, to make you see things in a new light or direction, with the goal of growth.
This week’s challenge: The Supermoon Effect.
Last night more people than ever before paused what they were doing, walked outside, and watched the moon rise. It was a “Supermoon” after all, and not only that but the moon was closer to the earth than it will be for most of our lifetimes.
From Space.com:
On average, the moon orbits approximately 238,855 miles (384,400 km) from Earth. When a full moon is at perigee, it orbits slightly closer, making it appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter in the sky. [7 Surprising Secrets About the Supermoon]
“We’re not talking about dramatic shifts in distance, but were talking about subtle differences that are noticeable if you’re used to looking at the moon,” Petro said.
The truth of the matter? Yes, it was a full moon. Yes, it was a beautiful night last night in many parts of the world, encouraging people outside. Yes, it was incredibly impressive.
But was it actually a big deal?
It was, only because of the anticipation that people felt as it rose.
From the New York Times:
Yes, it’s true that on Sunday and Monday nights the full moon will be at its closest to Earth in nearly 70 years. But to the casual observer, it probably won’t look much different from a regular full moon. Yet headlines heralding the event as some sort of don’t-miss spectacle are everywhere.
How does this work into a Monday Challenge from VineThinking? Here you go: Use the Supermoon Effect.
The Supermoon Effect is the build up to a moment. The dripping of knowledge, facts, and anticipation to one particular time, on one particular date, for one particular event.
Wholesalers and Importers: Announce you’ll be opening one of your rarest and most expensive wines. Tell your customer base where and when. No RSVP necessary but first come first served on the featured wine. Then of course have more wine left over for it to be a casual night of hand shaking and casual work discussion. Make this a big deal, but don’t make it a selling event. Make it a “you should be here because it’s going to be awesome and might be the only time in your life you’ll ever taste this wine” event.
Wholesale reps: Same thing as above, but bring the wine to chosen accounts. “I’m not sharing this with everybody, but I want to share it with you” is pretty powerful stuff. Again, no expectation of sales. Only expectation of anticipation of awesomeness.
Retailers: Have a release party for a particular new wine you are brining in during the next few weeks (pick one that is rare, maybe only on pre-sell from the distributor, and in the $25-40 a bottle range). Carefully sketch out a social media campaign around it, starting a solid two weeks ahead of the event. Get photos, assemble reviews. Then the day of and moment of, hopefully with a bunch of customers in attendance, fire up your phone an do a Facebook Live Stream of the opening and the pouring of the bottle.
Restaurants: Same thing as above but make the special wine available by the glass, and only for one weekend. Make it a $15 glass of wine, and maybe donate five bucks of every pour to a local cause. The key, just like the retailers, is to live stream it to your audience.
The goal of using the Supermoon Effect is to see what you can accomplish with the power of anticipation. See how you can impact change simply based on expectations that you have set in the customer’s eyes.
Good luck! Go forth! Make your own Supermoon!